Christian kids will be forced to ‘celebrate’ homosexuality

A Canadian father of two has urged Australians to resist a push to introduce same-sex marriage, warning that it would have ­profound consequences for schools and potentially erode ­parents’ rights over their children’s education.

Steve Tourloukis, who has battled his local school board for seven years over the right to pull his children out of sex-education classes that conflicted with his Christian beliefs, is the latest ­weapon in the Coalition for ­Marriage’s campaign against same-sex marriage.

In advertisements to be launched during prime-time TV tonight, Dr Tourloukis argues that the introduction of same-sex marriage in Canada in 2005 had paved the way for “anti-heterosexist” policies in schools that saw homosexuality and gender diversity taught as a matter of course.

“You wouldn’t think that two men or two women getting ­married would have such a profound effect on the education system but I assure you that it has,” he says. “They began to change the ­curriculum in schools. They said materials relating to homosexuality and same-sex marriage were to permeate the entire curriculum; all subjects, all grade levels.

“They said all students, including my Christian children, should be required to celebrate homosexuality.” …

Canadian court case:

In 2010, Dr Tourloukis, an Ontario dentist, asked the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board for notice if his chil­dren were to be taught about homo­sexuality so he could decide whether to withdraw them from class.

When the request was denied, he decided to take legal action. …

In November the Ontario Superior Court ruled that although the board had violated Dr Tourloukis’s right to religious freedom, the violation was “reasonable” given the competing statutory requirement for public schools to promote “inclusivity, equality and multiculturalism”.